At the end of 2024, dozens of industry leaders contributed to WiT’s three-part Year in Review series – offering predictions, provocations, and warnings about what 2025 might hold.
We revisit their predictions a year later to see who got it right and give our verdicts.
Rob Rosenstein, Co-founder & Chairman, Agoda
- One word for 2024: Exuberant
- One word for 2025: Tricky (Rated 4/10 for optimism)
- Prediction: AI should solve real customer and operational problems, not chase “shiny new objects”
- Silent trend: Looming economic crisis
- Buzzword to retire: “Growth hack”
- Biggest problem to fix: Efficiency during trip fulfillment – example, seamless check-in
WiT Verdict: He was right about the looming economic crisis which will continue to loom, and partly right about AI – it’s still being used to chase “shiny new objects” but there is growing momentum in its deployment in solving real customer and operational problems. Long may that continue into 2026.
Laura Houldsworth, MD APAC, Booking.com
One word for 2024: Fast- One word for 2025: AI (Rated 10/10 optimism)
- Prediction: AI will be the key driver of innovation; business focus is on building team resilience to deal with pace of change
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